Package of watch parts



Oct. 30, 1962 H. HAIDEGGER PACKAGE OF WATCH PARTS Filed Feb. 18, 1960 INVEPITOR Hans Haldegger ATTORNEY 3&6 L08 l Patented Oct. 30, 1962 3,061,081 PACKAGE F WATCH PARTS Hans Haidegger, Solothurn, Switzerland, assiguor to bauches SA., Neuchatel, Switzerland Filed Feb. 18, 1950, Ser. No. 9,519 Ciairns priority, application Switzerland Feb. 2t), 1959 3 Claims. (Cl. 26S-i8) This invention relates to methods of and a package for improving the information transmitted to a user of goods contained in a package.

As an example, spare parts for watches have hitherto been sent to the user in small packages containing one single part each. Since such packages are very small, their largest dimension being in the order of mm., little information may be provided on such packages with the classical methods of printing texts or pictures on the surfaces of the package. Therefore such informations used to be limited to one or more reference numerals characteristic of the part contained in the package, and the user had to look up the special information from a standard list of information. However', sending this list of information to all users of spare parts and completing all these lists by new information on new parts rbrought onto the market proved to be extremely complicated and expensive and therefore the wish of adding all necessary information to the package of each part has already existed long ago, but no satisfactory solution was found up to date. Printing sheets of information and adding them to the package in folded form would not be practicable because even small folded papers would require more space than available in the package. Moreover it would not pay preparing different printing plates for a high number of specific parts.

It is a first object of this invention to overcome these difficulties and to increase the information attached to the package in that a portion of the package, preferably a cover, is made of a substantially llat sheet of micro-film. This sheet of micro-film may comprise drawings, texts and other information on an appreciably reduced scale, the width of the lines of such information being for example in the order of 1-5/10() of a millimeter. Of course other information such as trademarks, reference numbers or the like may be provided readable without optical magniiication.

As already set out the sheet of information should be substantially flat in order to allow easy observation thereof by means of an optical instrument, for instance a magnifying glass. It is a particular object of this invention to provide a package wherein a ilat sheet of micro-film carrying the information may readily be assembled with a body of the package and to make a package of a shape allowing easy observation of the sheet of information with a magnifying glass.

Another object of the invention consists in providing a package and magnifying glass assembly particularly suitable for allowing easy observation of the information.

There is another object of this invention to render the production of information to be attached to the package much more economic as compared with classical methods, such as printing the packing material or printing sheets to be added to the package in folded state, by preparing information on a large scale and reproducing them on micro-film on a reduced scale. It was found that this method of producing the information sheets is much more economic than any printing method, particularly when relatively small numbers of similar information sheets are to be prepared. As an example, about 20,000 different spare parts have to be packed and dispatched'to users in watch industry and the numbers of similar parts to be packed at a time may be relatively small. It would practically be impossible and in any case highly uneconomic to prepare printing stockl for each of 20,00() different information -sheets required. However, asimilar number of micro-film sheets may be produced relatively economically by purely photographic reproduction of large-scale'.

elements such as letters, numbers, trademarks, drawings and so on which are composed to an individual information and are photographically reproduced on a reduced scale on the information sheets to be attached to the package.

It is another object of this invention to prepare a number equal to the number of specific parts or goods of negative copies of individual linformation on a reduced size on micro-film, such negative information copies being of a standard size o f for instance 25 x 25 mm. and such negative copies being stored in a record oflice for individual reproduction whenever a number of packages are to be prepared and provided with an information sheet for packing pieces wherewith the particular information is associated. Preferably the negative copies are provided on a common micro-film strip of any desired length and comprising any number of negative copies. When it is desired to produce a number of positive information sheets of one particular type and associated with one particular part, the desired negative micro-film copy is brought into a proper position within a photographic copying machine. An unexposed photographic hn is stepwise fed past the negative copy and the picture of the negative copy is repeatedly projected onto different places of the unexposed lilm. In this way any desired number of positive copies may be made of any negative copy, such positive copies being attached to the package after developing and fixing the positive information and after having cut individual positive information sheets from the film. In this way a high number of informations individually associated to parts to be packed may -be stored on an inexpensive carrier requiring little space. l

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification and from the attached drawings wherein IFIGS. 1-3 illustrate three types of packages in perspective view in approximately natural size and n FIG. 4 shows an information sheet for use with the packages shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 on an appreciably enlarged scale. I

The package shown in FlG. 1 comprises a body 1 having the shape of a truncated cone, a ilange 2 extending outwards from the wider open end of this body. A substantially rectangular cover 3 having rounded corners, made of photographic material ris pasted or. welded to the ange 2. Parts 1, 2 and 6 may preferably be made of a thermo-plastic material whereby the cover 3` is coated with photographic layer comprising information elements as broadly set out above.

As may be seen from FIG. l, the cover 3 is llat and is welded to the llat tlange 2 of the package. This flat form of the cover is particularly advantageous, because the carriers of photographic layers are yusually relatively hard and cannot be folded without damaging the carrier and/ or the photographic layer. Therefore, it is one particular advantage of using a flat cover for avoiding any bending or folding thereof. y

The relatively wide flange 2 allows ia solid attachment of the cover to this flange. Further, the stability of the llat cover is substantially increased due to its connection to the wide flange 2. The size of the flat 'cover and cousequently the area available for providing information on this cover is relatively large due to the construction shown in FIG. 1 wherein the cover is attached to a wide flange.

Preferably the material of the cover 3` is produced as follows: a usual photographic carrier, for instance on Celluloid base, is first coated with thermoplastic material such as polyvinyl-chloride or the like on one face thereof.

of the -most important languages and a drawing 11.

Thereafter a photographic layer of `any usual type is applied to the other surface of the carrier. In this way a relatively stable cover is obtained provided with a thermoplastic layer for welding it to theange of the package.

Instead of welding or pasting the cover to a flange 2 as shown in FIG. 1 a similar cover may be clamped between iianges of a packing body 4 made for instance of aluminum foil. Again the cover is absolutely fiat and xis firmly clamped between the flanges of the packing body 4.

Packages as shown in FIGS` 1 or 2 may be packed into a cardboard box 5 for dispatch, information sheets similar in shape and size to covers 3 being attached to one or both end faces ofthe cardboard box for identifying the contents of the box. Of course identical information svheets -are attached to all the packages contained in one ox 5. Y

FIG. 4 is an example of an information sheet 3` as used on a package for spare parts for Watches. In a size allowing reading without the use of auxiliary optical equipment a trademark l6, an indication 7 on the size vand type of watch wherein the spare part is to be used,

a reference numeral 8 of the spare part and an illustration 9 of the spare part with its most important dimension (2.55 mm.) are photographically reproduced on the sheet in a size allowing reading thereof without the use of auxiliary optical equipment. .The information sheet further comprises in a small size requiring optical magniiication the designation 10 of the spare part is Some Experts having much practice in the technical field whereto the spare part belongs, will be able to identify the part when reading elements 6 to 9 of the information sheet, .but Watch makers having little experience will have much more information from elements 10 and 11 when using a magnifying glass for reading them. ISince every watch maker has a magnifying glass no particular trouble is caused by the necessity of reading a part of the information with the magnifying glass. With the information given in elements 10 and 11 it will be possible for anybody to take more information on this particular part from a standard work, and particularly from the drawing 11 illustrating a great part of the watch in exploded view it will be seen where and how the spare part contained in the package is to be inserted into the watch.

The information sheets 3 shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 are of a size 24 x 24 mm. and are shown in natural size in FIG.

3. FIG. 4 clearly illustrates what appreciable amount of information may be condensed on this small space. The information is so disposed that only the user having llittle experience will need those elements thereof which 'cannot be read without optical magnifying. `It is an object of this invention to provide a special observing de- -vice allowing easy observation of the'information sheet ,attached to the packing. This device may comprise a magnifying lens fixed in a support, this support having mounting means spaced from the magnifying lens in a manner that the information sheet of a package mounted in the carrier is maintained at the correct distance from the magnifying lens for observation of the information. ,The support preferably compnises guideways at a proper distance from the magnifying lens such guideways having the form of slots spaced from each other by about 2S mm. and adapted to take up the iiange portions of the packages of FIGS. 1 or 2. Therefore, a package may be inserted with its flanges into the said slots in the manner of a drawer or observation of its information sheet 3.

The information sheets 3 may be made of any usual photographic material wherein the information appears in black lines on a white surface. However, it may be an ladvantage to use a transparent carrier Whereon the information 1appears in black lines. In this case the part contained in the package will be visible through the substantially transparent cover so that no illustration of Vthe part is necessary on the information sheet. Of course the layer of plastic material on the inside of the carrier of the photographic material has to be transparent itself or the rim portions only of the information sheets have to be provided with thermo-plastic material where the cover 3 has to be welded to the package body. It is further possible to provide informations in white lines on an otherwise black sheet, or multi-color informations may be produced by using color films for producing the information sheets. v

As mentioned above, individual informations are preferably prepared on a larger scale, for instance the scale shown in FIG. 4, from single information elements.` Such elements are loosely assembled on a suitable carrier whereby for instance the trademark 6 and the 'frame surrounding reference number 3 may be prepared for all kinds of information. The other elements such as texts, drawings and particular reference numbers are subsequently added to the so prepared carrier and when the full information is assembled in this manner on a large scale the said negative coply of the so assembled information is produced on a micro-hlm by photographic reduction. These negative copies are kept in a record office and used for preparing by photographic reproduction sheets for being attached to packages. It has already been set out above that this is an entirely noveland particularly advantageous way of providing individual information for any number of packages for packing a great number of different parts because the only thing to be archivated is one small negative copy of the micro-hlm from which any desired number, particularly small number of positive copies may be made in an economic way at any time.

When desired an aluminum foil may be sued as a carrier of the photographic layer, this foil forming the information sheet to be attached to the package.

The information sheet may removably be attached to the package. When it is desired to observe the information sheet by means of an optical magnifying system, the sheet may be removed from the package and inserted into an observing system which may be similar to lanternslide projectors used for proiecting transparent positive pictures.

Metallic spare parts contained in the package have to be protected against any effect of aggressive substances. Since the cover of the package is made of a photographic material which was treated with developers and fixing agents of somewhat aggressive character, measures should be taken for preventing any contact between eventual residues of such agents and the spare part contained in the package. As an example, a protective layer impermeabi for any of such aggressive residues that may be present in the photographic layer may be inserted between the information sheet and the packing space of the package. Of course it is an advantage to make the photographic carrier of a material having very little absorptive capacity for such agents and further the photographic material will carefully be rinsed after its treatment in such agents.

The above mentioned material having a carrier for instance of Celluloid, a photographic layer on the outer surface and a layer of plastic material on its inner surface is particularly suitable for the purpose of this invention because the backing layer of plastic material will protect the contents of the package because it effectively prevents access of any aggressive substances to the interior of the package.

From FIG. 4, wherein the information sheet is shown on a scale of 5:1, it is seen that the elements of the information are of very small size. As an example the exploded view 11 shown in the lower left corner covers an area of less than 0.8 x 0.8 mm., that is less than 0.6 cm?. The complete information takes a space of somewhat less than 2 x 2 cm. With the packing of FIG. l, wherein the rim of the information sheet is not clamped between flange portions of the package body, the available space is somewhat larger than in the package shown in FlG. 2, but even this bigger area *does not exceed 6 cm?. These figures clearly show that the space required for placing the necessary information is very small and FIG. 4 shows that a great quantity of information may be placed on this small space.

This invention is not necessarily limited to a method, wherein the information sheet forms a part of the package, such as a flat cover as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, or wherein the information sheet is removably attached to the outside of the package, but the information sheet produced from the above mentioned negative micro-hlm may be loosely added to the package. As an example the cover of the package may be made of a transparent material and the information sheet may loosely be inserted into the package below this cover so that the sheet may easily be observed without opening the package. This is important because it is not desirable that the package must be opened for having eXact knowledge of the nature of its contents.

It is possible to provide a photographis layer on each side of the cover 3 and to produce information on each side by photographic methods. More general information on the type of the part may be given on the outer surface of the cover which is visible when the package is closed, and more detailed information may be given on the inside of the cover which is accessible when the package has been opened.

What I claim is:

l. A package containing a small spare part such as a watch repair part, including a portion having a recess therein receiving the part, a flange about the edge of said portion having a recess, a at cover `member fixed to the ange portion, the cover member having an outer layer of photographic material, an intermediate carrier of a cellulose material, and an inner insulating layer, the insulating layer protecting the said part against any deleterious effects' which may be caused by chemicals of the photographic material.

2. A package containing a small spare part such as a watch part, including a lower portion having a recess therein receiving the part, a flange about the edge of said portion having a recess, the said portion and flange made of plastic material, a flat cover member fixed to the flange portion, the ycover member having an outer layer of photographic material, an intermediate layer of a cellulose material and an inner thermoplastic layer, the thermoplastic layer being welded to said flange and protecting the said part against any deleterious effects which may be caused by chemicals of the photographic mater-iai.

3. A package containing small quantities of goods such as watch parts, including a package body having a recess therein receiving the goods, an opening of said recess closed by means of a cover of photographic material, said cover carrying portions of photographically reproduced information in micro-size covering a at larea of said cover readily observable `by means yof optical magnifying means.

References Cited in the le of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS OTHER REFERENCES Modern Packaging, vol. 26, No. 6, February 1953, page 81. (Copy found in 216-62.) 

